Replacement Roof Panel

This is a discussion on Replacement Roof Panel within the General Help forums, part of the LSx Technical Help Section category; Originally Posted by 02 red hawk
All 3 of mine are 02s. They all have been garaged since day 1. ...

All 3 of mine are 02s. They all have been garaged since day 1. So far, the only one afflicted was the pewter ws6 when it had 48k on the clock. My nbm ws6 has 3076 miles on it now, & I'm watching it real close as it's looking like it might be beginning, & my red ta hawk has 6412 miles on it & it's still perfect. They live in a cool dark garage & rarely come out & play, as if you couldn't tell by the mileage on 2 of them. Thanks gm for giving all of us something to look forward to.

Not the first time a manufacturer has tried something that didn't quite work out.

Why does everybody buy a very expensive replacement panel from 6LE,
I live in the Netherlands Europe, so buying a panel from 6LE would cost me about 1200 dollar (includes oversized shipping and Taxes),

My Camaro (2001) has not started to bubble yet, but i went to a junkyard to get a spare panel, and cut off a panel from a 95, these panels didn't have this problem, and with the right kind of tools it was about 30 minuten of work, to get the panel undamaged off.

When the roof is off, i toke a paintstripper to heat the underside of the roof (or put it in the sun for a day on a sunny day), to get the adhesive soft, then use a cutting wire (for windows) and the panel is off, then use a razorblade to remove the adhesive on the inside.

and ready to paint, this solution cost a fraction of a new (not orginal) 6LE panel.

Excellent work and great pics. This has always been an option. However I think (for some depending on which part of the country you live in here) It's getting increasingly difficult to find an early 4th gen in the wrecking yards. Anything more than 4-5 years old gets picked over pretty clean and is then quickly crushed and sold to china. Not too many yards have cars that are nearly 20 years old now. If you are lucky enough to find an old yard that has low volume traffic and doesn't crush much you may get lucky. For most it's just easier and less leg work to buy the new panel, especially if you live here in the states where the cost isn't nearly as bad as what you have to deal with.

Still, with that said, I'm glad to see people go the extra effort to keep these cars on the road and looking nice

I think that removing an earlier panel in one piece would be an issue for most people. They are not very sturdy and can be easily broken. Did you saw it off like removing a windshield?

Yes, with a cutting wire, when you heat up the underside of the roof with a paintgun (stripper), the adhesive gets softer, and it's easy to cut through the adhesive.
it is a good and cheap solution and it's not difficult at all, and the car stays orginal.

When the panel is off, she gets a little bit fragile.
My Camaro hasn't have any bubbles yet (a year ago, i thought the bubbles are starting to appear, but it wasn't) , so it was a spare for me,
the roofpanel is laying safely on the attic (i hope this is the right word) in my barn,

Excellent work and great pics. This has always been an option. However I think (for some depending on which part of the country you live in here) It's getting increasingly difficult to find an early 4th gen in the wrecking yards. Anything more than 4-5 years old gets picked over pretty clean and is then quickly crushed and sold to china. Not too many yards have cars that are nearly 20 years old now. If you are lucky enough to find an old yard that has low volume traffic and doesn't crush much you may get lucky. For most it's just easier and less leg work to buy the new panel, especially if you live here in the states where the cost isn't nearly as bad as what you have to deal with.

Still, with that said, I'm glad to see people go the extra effort to keep these cars on the road and looking nice

When someone is looking for a used roofpanel, the yunkyard isn't the only place to look for, on several forums (LS1.com, FirebirdV6.com and many others) there is almost anytime someone who is "parting" a Camaro or Firebird out, and with some luck it is a 1998 or earlier.
You may not need the panel right away, but it is a cheap spare for the future,

Great suggestions. I'm not much of an internet surfer though, I don't even get into all the social networking, just have an old cell phone that rings, that's the extent for me . This website is about the only one I participate in.

I have an 01 Z28, I started to have problems about 3yrs ago. Took it to the original dealer and fought with them over the bulliten that came out. They finally agreed to fix, but only at 60% of the cost. The guys at the paint shop said that it was just a cosmetic problem. They told me to get it painted and that their warranty would cover any other problems going forward. I've had it repainted twice already and they are pissed about it. They even tried to find the shell for the roof and obviously were unsuccessful. I'd like to find a permanent fix if possible.

To the poster, i think Scott, that said something about possibly finding 50 new roof panels, I would be interested in a price as well.

If anyone else has any suggestions, they would be appreciated. Also, that part that is being refrabricated, it's just the rear of the roof???? What about the top part? I have problems all over.

As your paint shop found out, simply painting it doesn't fix the problem. The glue will oooze back through eventually. I could see why they are getting tired of covering on their dime. The only cure is to remove the panel, remove all the old glue, install new panel and use a different resin.

The panel is available and being reproduced, it's just the small piece that is glued on right in front of the rear hatch.

As far as I know, they tried different types of sealers. The frustrating part was while it was going to cost me, they convinced me it was a paint issue. They were going to replace the roof initially, but of course, now they can't find the part.

FBJones, you mentioned just the back panel, but I have a weird snake line in the middle of the rest of the roof panel and I have bubbles on the outer edges of the entire roof. Are you saying the only part that needs to be replaced is the back part? Why am I getting bubbles and defects on the rest of the panel?

So.....this is the penalty for buying one of these cheap "Made in Canada" cars, huh? My 00 Z28 has had a mild case of acne on the black roof bar for some years. I figured those crunchy little bubbles were just typical cheap factory clear coat giving up since I can count the number of nights my Camaro has spent indoors in the last fourteen years on one hand. I guess if I were showing the car, the bubbling would be a big issue, but my bubbles are all from 1/32" to 1/8" in diameter and are really fairly unobvious. You guys should just think of them as patina and your car as a survivor. That was the advice I got when I spent $10.5K to get rid of spider webbed laquer on my all original 69 427 Vette. I think I'm going to just learn to live with them.

As far as I know, they tried different types of sealers. The frustrating part was while it was going to cost me, they convinced me it was a paint issue. They were going to replace the roof initially, but of course, now they can't find the part.

FBJones, you mentioned just the back panel, but I have a weird snake line in the middle of the rest of the roof panel and I have bubbles on the outer edges of the entire roof. Are you saying the only part that needs to be replaced is the back part? Why am I getting bubbles and defects on the rest of the panel?

Thanks for any info.

If you have a T-top car then that rear bar section would be all that is affected with this issue. If you have a solid roof car (which it sounds as though you are describing) then I suppose it's very possible the same issue could happen with these as well, although I've never heard of it (likely because just not many solid roof cars around).

Definately not a paint issue, although it does appear that way and would fool most painters into thinking it's paint (I'm a painter myself). But if you really investigate it you'll find that the glue used actually eats through that roof panel.
The panels are available through 6literdesigns (it's called something like that??)

So.....this is the penalty for buying one of these cheap "Made in Canada" cars, huh? My 00 Z28 has had a mild case of acne on the black roof bar for some years. I figured those crunchy little bubbles were just typical cheap factory clear coat giving up since I can count the number of nights my Camaro has spent indoors in the last fourteen years on one hand. I guess if I were showing the car, the bubbling would be a big issue, but my bubbles are all from 1/32" to 1/8" in diameter and are really fairly unobvious. You guys should just think of them as patina and your car as a survivor. That was the advice I got when I spent $10.5K to get rid of spider webbed laquer on my all original 69 427 Vette. I think I'm going to just learn to live with them.

I mentioned above I paint/restore classics for a living, and as you found out paint isn't cheap. Frankly I'm of the same thought process you are, and I actually have collected a few unrestored survivor classic muscle cars, it appeals to me more than a fully restored example. So I really don't have much of an issue living with the bubbled roof on my wifes 4th gen. She drives it daily, and things will happen. There is no sense in me replacing panels and painting the roof, or the rest of the car for that matter as long as she continues to drive it everyday. I'm not going to spend a couple thousand dollars in materials plus my labor to paint a car that will get chipped and dinged from driving it daily.
If for some reason she decides she's ready for a different car in the future and we park the 4th gen, then I may consider fixing the patina. Until then I don't really care.

So.....this is the penalty for buying one of these cheap "Made in Canada" cars, huh? My 00 Z28 has had a mild case of acne on the black roof bar for some years. I figured those crunchy little bubbles were just typical cheap factory clear coat giving up since I can count the number of nights my Camaro has spent indoors in the last fourteen years on one hand. I guess if I were showing the car, the bubbling would be a big issue, but my bubbles are all from 1/32" to 1/8" in diameter and are really fairly unobvious. You guys should just think of them as patina and your car as a survivor. That was the advice I got when I spent $10.5K to get rid of spider webbed laquer on my all original 69 427 Vette. I think I'm going to just learn to live with them.

I mentioned above I paint/restore classics for a living, and as you found out paint isn't cheap. Frankly I'm of the same thought process you are, and I actually have collected a few unrestored survivor classic muscle cars, it appeals to me more than a fully restored example. So I really don't have much of an issue living with the bubbled roof on my wifes 4th gen. She drives it daily, and things will happen. There is no sense in me replacing panels and painting the roof, or the rest of the car for that matter as long as she continues to drive it everyday. I'm not going to spend a couple thousand dollars in materials plus my labor to paint a car that will get chipped and dinged from driving it daily around the general population that doesn't give a shit about your property.
If for some reason she decides she's ready for a different car in the future and we park the 4th gen, then I may consider fixing the patina. Until then I don't really care.